The AstraZeneca logo is pictured at the 2021 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, China, July 7, 2021.
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LONDON – Pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca said Tuesday it plans to increase its total revenue to $80 billion by 2030 – a 75% increase from $45.8 billion in 2023.
“We have great confidence in this $80 billion target because of the portfolio and the breadth and size of the portfolio that we see today,” AstraZeneca Chief Financial Officer Aradhana Sarin told CNBC's Arabile Gumede on Tuesday.
AstraZeneca will focus on its oncology, biopharmaceuticals and rare diseases businesses and expects to bring another 20 drugs to market over the next six years.
“Many of them could be worth $5 billion,” Sarin said. The company said in a statement that many of the new drugs could reach that annual sales figure in peak years.
AstraZeneca shares traded in Europe were last up 0.66% at 9:35 a.m. London time following the announcement.
AstraZeneca's plans include developing drugs to treat at least half of all potential cancers, as well as developing alternatives to classic treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation.
“It will take time to replace the entire market, but we believe we have the technology today to begin replacing,” Sarin told CNBC.
Some cancer treatments developed by AstraZeneca have already been approved by the US FDA, including the drug Enhertu, a so-called antibody-drug conjugate developed with Japanese drugmaker Daiichi Sankyo and aimed at treating breast cancer patients.
AstraZeneca has also announced acquisitions of pharmaceutical companies including Fusion Pharmaceuticals Inc., a company specializing in cancer treatment. On Monday, the company announced plans to build an antibody-drug conjugate manufacturing facility in Singapore.
“This is the new technology that will replace chemotherapy. This is very complex manufacturing, so you need an end-to-end solution, which is why we decided to make this investment in Singapore,” said Sarin. Investments have also been made at other AstraZeneca locations, she added.
“Post-Covid era”
AstraZeneca became a household name during the Covid-19 pandemic when it developed one of the first vaccines against the disease in collaboration with the University of Oxford. The drug, known as Vaxzevria, is being withdrawn from the market as demand wanes and other shots tailored to specific Covid variants emerge.
“For us, this is certainly the post-Covid era,” Sarin told CNBC. “We provided more vaccines during the Covid pandemic because, as you know, it was a public health crisis. It wasn’t really our job to be involved in Covid vaccines.”
AstraZeneca's business has historically focused on areas such as oncology and cardiovascular health, and this will remain the company's focus going forward, Sarin said. Drugs for diabetes and metabolic diseases would also play a role in the development of AstraZeneca, she indicated.
“We are also looking at some weight control medications and may also combine them with medications that help with comorbidities that many patients with weight control problems suffer from,” she said.
AstraZeneca struck a deal with Shanghai-based pharmaceutical company Eccogene last year for a weight-loss and cardiovascular metabolism drug, pushing into the weight-control drug race currently largely dominated by Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic Eli LillyThis is Mounjaro.
However, supply shortages could mean competitors such as Pfizer and Amgen could play a larger role in the market this year.
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